carbon black/charcoal

Ingredients

soot, gum arabic, lead, calcium, strontium

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

According to ancient testimonies, the ink used in Greek papyri was produced from soot resulting from the combustion of materials such as resin, oil or wood, mixed with a carbohydrate binder, usually gum arabic from acacia trees at a ratio of 1 uncia of gum to 3 unciae of carbon (p. 57). Modern analysis of Herculaneum fragments confirms this carbon base but adds the presence of lead, calcium, and strontium as metallic components (p. 65).

Evidence

"This position has been recently revised on the basis of studies that use X-Ray Phase Contrast Tomography (XPCT) to show a significant presence of lead in the ink of some fragments."

Remarks

Analyses identified calcium (Ca) as a possible distinctive element between ink and papyrus and detected lead (Pb) and strontium (Sr) in the ink's composition (p. 65). The ink usually shows a slight relief from the surface of the papyrus because carbon black ink does not completely penetrate the fibres (p. 65).